Mobilizing leadership in cities and regions

Abstract

Increasing attention has been given to the role of leadership as an important determinant of growth at the regional or local scale (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), [2010]. Regions matter. Paris: OECD, [2012]. Growth in all regions. Paris: OECD). Scholarship on the leadership of places, however, remains an under-developed field, with much research either overly reliant upon perspectives drawn from management disciplines or limited to case study analysis of ‘success’ stories. While there have been significant exceptions (Stimson, Stough, with Salazar, [2009]. Leadership and institutions in regional endogenous development. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar), too little attention has been paid to developing a systematic approach to understanding place leadership. This paper reviews the literature on the leadership of places and argues there is now a sufficient body of scholarship to enable the development of more analytically rigorous approaches. It also posits that effective leadership is now more important for the success of places than in the past and that contemporary growth dynamics are likely to raise its significance further. The paper argues that governments and communities alike can encourage the development of local leadership and that the steps needed to achieve this objective are already well known.